Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,9.7
॥
Devanāgarī
कतमे षट् इति अग्निः च पृथिवी च वायुः च अन्तरिक्षम् च आदित्यः च द्यौः च एते षट् एते हि इदं सर्वम् षट् इति
Transliteration (IAST)
katame ṣaṭ iti agniḥ ca pṛthivī ca vāyuḥ ca antarikṣam ca ādityaḥ ca dyauḥ ca ete ṣaṭ ete hi idaṃ sarvam ṣaṭ iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कतमेkatamewhich; those who
षट्ṣaṭsix (ṣaṣ); the six; six
इतिitithus; how
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
चcaand; as well as
पृथिवीpṛthivīthe earth; the earthly world
चcaand; as well as
वायुःvāyuḥthe wind; the air
चcaand; as well as
अन्तरिक्षम्antarikṣamthe mid-region; the mid-region
चcaand; as well as
आदित्यःādityaḥĀditya; the sun
चcaand; as well as
द्यौःdyauḥthe sky; the heavenly world
चcaand; as well as
एतेetethese; the following
षट्ṣaṭsix (ṣaṣ); the six; six
एतेetethese; the following
हिhiindeed; truly
इदंidaṃthis; this world
सर्वम्sarvamall; the whole
षट्ṣaṭsix (ṣaṣ); the six; six
इतिitithus; how
Translation
"Which are the six?" — "Fire and the earth, wind and the mid-region, the sun and the sky — these are the six: these six are all this."
Version
89f09bf0608b · published Jul 27, 2026, 1:05:26 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The storey of "six": from the eight Vasus the moon and the stars are removed — three pairs of "a light and its field" remain: fire-earth, wind-mid-region, sun-sky. "These six are all this": the threefold frame of the world, familiar since the three worlds and the three Vedas (1.5.4–5).
The descending ladder is not a discarding of gods but a widening of the lens: the smaller the number, the broader each of its members. The thirty-three were a detail of the six; the six will be a detail of the three — and so on to the One, who is not "one of" but the One in all.